[Bcook_illFX]

Today I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles I did it very quickly I averaged about 83 mph the whole way. When I was going up the grapevine It was about 90 degrees outside (the grapevine is a very big climb that is probably 20 miles long or so)I was moving very quickly accelerating through traffic with the a/c on and as I neared the top I noticed the my temp warning light turned on so I turned off a/c and immediately pulled over and shut it off I let it set for 10 mins. turned it back on and the temp light was off and the temp gauge was back on the middle so I continued much slower and even turned on my Heater I noticed when I did this the coolant temp and oil temps started to drop and had no warning lights for the ready of the way. I have a stock IC and intake but I do have a miltek decat downpipe with mrt exhaust and a Cobb access port


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[smatty]

Isn't that like an 8% grade? That's definitely a great way to overheat an engine if there ever was one.

 

[Bcook_illFX]

Ya it's really long steep climb and I noticed my boost pressure was pretty high for the whole climb with the a/c on so maybe I just pushed it too hard I might take I to my mechanic and make sure everything is cool tho, does anyone know what range the coolant temp should be


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[RodMoe]

This only confirms what Joe from 2J-Racing is now working on a cooling upgrade for our cars he has seen very warm coolanttemps while on track in the and is working on a better fan/radiator shroud update and total new custom built with oil cooler maybe Radiator.. only hitch with the new rad is the top and bottom of the factory unit are built to hold the AC condensor coil/small rad so it need to have that built into the top and bottom.. A quick fix might be to do what RAAMauidio did and swiss cheese your current rad shroud as it looks to be very restrictive at hiway speeds.. But it is not a simple process to remove the shroud maybe a saturday project..

 

[Zormecteon]

Most interesting to me is that you have the Access Port, instead of a stock fuel map. I'm thinking that's the major contributor to the overheating, and one of the reasons I'm waiting for the Mountune 215 to be able to be dealer installed.

I remember going over the grapevine when there were ALWAYS cars by the side of the road that had overheated, but my last few trips it has seemed that it was a thing of the past.

 

[BRGT350]

Team O'Neil had an issue with the ST getting hot when in competition, but I am not surprised when running on rally stages with a skid plate blocking airflow from escaping under the engine. They cut open the honeycomb in the grille to allow more airflow during service until a better fix could be found.

I had the Fiesta Movement ST on track a few times and ran the crap out of it at an autocross with around 35 runs and 7 drivers running the car hard. We never had any overheating problems, however, temps in West Michigan in the summer are not nearly as high as most of the country.

 

[sumo64c]

I had a similar issue going up a mountain but mine was in the 25-35mph range, I was the last vehicle of a 4-7 car line of traffic and was following fairly close on the vehicle ahead of me. All I did was turn on the heater to full and put some distance between me and the vehicle in front, temp. light went off within 30 seconds. My ST is 100% stock.

Were you close enough behind other vehicles to possibly interrupt some of the airflow to your ST ? I've climbed the same mountain several times since with no traffic in front of me and can't reproduce it.

 

[D1JL]

That is odd as I have been over the Grapevine on several occasions.
I always run at a speed that I refuse to admit.
My A/C is always on.
I have never had any issues.



Dave

 

[Bcook_illFX]

That is odd as I have been over the Grapevine on several occasions.
I always run at a speed that I refuse to admit.
My A/C is always on.
I have never had any issues.



Dave

I was going 100-120 mph


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[D1JL]

I was going 100-120 mph

OK, you got me there.
I usually keep it at about 90.


Dave

 

[Zormecteon]

I was going 100-120 mph

So, you were going 100+ mph, uphill, in 90 degree heat, for 20 miles with the A/C full blast and the car got hot? Go figure!

 

[Bcook_illFX]

So, you were going 100+ mph, uphill, in 90 degree heat, for 20 miles with the A/C full blast and the car got hot? Go figure!

My wrx never overheated over the grapevine


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[Gpfarrell]

All designs are compromises. A larger cooling system would involve a bigger rad and more coolant. Which means more weight. If it took those conditions to get the car to overheat, I'd say Ford got the compromise just about perfect.

 

[MasterPooBaa]

I was somewhat suprised when I first looked in the ST engine bay. Half the radiator is covered with a shroud, and the fan appears quite small.
Seems to work for me though. Just sits on 1/2 all the time.

 

[sourskittle]

Overheat? In a fist? Never happen... Lol.


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[Methane Herder]

Is there a special procedure to burping the cooling systems on these cars?
MH

 

[RodMoe]

Vacuum Fill or burp it several time to make sure all air is out

NOTE: NOTE: Steps 7 through 19 is required to remove any remaining air pockets from the cooling system.

1. Install the vacuum cooling system filler and follow the manufacturer's instructions to fill and bleed the system.
   General Equipment : Cooling System Vacuum Tester and Refiller

1. • Measure the coolant concentration in the vehicle.
     Special Tool(s) : ROB75240 Coolant/Battery Refractometer (Fahrenheit)
   • Determine the concentration desired based on the vehicle duty cycle of extreme hot or cold operating conditions.
   • Add, top-off or adjust the coolant as follows:
   • For concentrations measured 48/52 to 50/50 (freeze protection -34˚C to -37˚C [-30˚F to -34˚F]) use Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Prediluted to maintain a coolant concentration in this same range.
     Material : Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Prediluted / VC-3DIL-B (WSS-M97B44-D2)
   • For all other concentrations, use Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated and/or distilled water to get to the desired concentration.
     Material : Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated / VC-3-B (WSS-M97B44-D)
   • When refilling the engine coolant after a flush procedure, use a mixture of Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated and distilled water to get to the desired concentration.

1. Recommended coolant concentration is 48/52 to 50/50 engine coolant to distilled water (freeze protection -34˚C to -37˚C [-30˚F to -34˚F]).

1. • For extremely cold climates (less than -37˚C [-34˚F]):
   • It may be necessary to increase the coolant concentration above 50%.
   • NEVER increase the coolant concentration above 60%.
   • Maximum coolant concentration is 60/40 for cold weather areas.
   • A coolant concentration of 60% provides freeze protection down to -50˚C (-58˚F)
   • Engine coolant concentration above 60% will decrease the overheat protection characteristics of the engine coolant and may damage the engine.

1. • For extremely hot climates:
   • It is still necessary to maintain the coolant concentration above 40%.
   • NEVER decrease the coolant concentration below 40%.
   • Minimum coolant concentration is 40/60 for warm weather areas.
   • A coolant concentration of 40% provides freeze point protection down to the following temperature.
     Temperature : -15 °F ( -26 °C)
   • Engine coolant concentration below 40% will decrease the freeze protection characteristics of the engine coolant and may damage the engine.

1. Vehicles driven year-round in non-extreme climates should use a 48/52 to 50/50 (freeze protection -34˚C to -37˚C [-30˚F to -34˚F]) mixture of engine coolant and distilled water for optimum cooling system and engine protection.

1. Fill the degas bottle to the MAX FILL line.

1. Install the degas bottle cap until it contacts the hard stop.

1. Turn the climate control system off.

1. Start the engine and increase the engine speed to 3,500 rpm and hold for 30 seconds.

1. Turn the engine off for and wait for 1 minute to purge any large air pockets from the cooling system.

1. WARNING: Always allow the engine to cool before opening the cooling system. Do not unscrew the coolant pressure relief cap when the engine is operating or the cooling system is hot. The cooling system is under pressure; steam and hot liquid can come out forcefully when the cap is loosened slightly. Failure to follow these instructions may result in serious personal injury.
   
   Check the engine coolant level in degas bottle and if necessary fill to the top of the MAX FILL line on the degas bottle if the engine is warm or to the top of the MIN FILL LEVEL if the engine is cold.

1. Start the engine and let it idle until the engine reaches normal operating temperature and the thermostat is fully open. A fully open thermostat is verified by the cooling fan cycling on at least once.

1. Increase the engine speed to 3,500 rpm and hold for 30 seconds.

1. Allow the engine to idle for 30 seconds..

1. Turn the engine off for 1 minute.

1. Repeat steps 14 through 16 a total of 5 times to remove any remaining air trapped in the system

 

[reddog99]

Have you noticed that all the steps are numbered "1" ? :bored:

 

[RodMoe]

Have you noticed that all the steps are numbered "1" ? :bored:

Just did thanks thats a feature of cut and paste i did not know about ... let me fix that by hand or not that has me stumped as to the formatting

 

[moshaholic2]

Weird. Wonder what the issue is on these cars.

It was 90 out yesterday at Miller for the octane academy. The track FiST's are heavier than ours with the addition of the cage etc. They get flogged hard and at the rev limiter for long periods of time. They dont have any mods to the cooling system. They are essentially bone stock just w/ a cage added.

I witnessed no over heating or even higher than normal temps.

Wonder if there is a bad batch of radiators or some other cooling related part?

I havent seen any issues on mine yet and I have a 20 mile climb from 4500'-7500 that I usually go 80mph or much much faster up